Should the School Year be Shortened to Save the State Money?

I have two kids in Northshore schools, and I marvel that teachers are able to get any teaching accomplished this time of year. Between November 16 and January 3, there are only three weeks where elementary kids attend school for five full days per week! Then there is a week off in February and another in April. The rest of April pretty much revolves around taking the MSP. Now, . Kids don’t really need to be in school anyway, do they?

Why is this particular cut to education an idea that many education advocacy groups (like PTA), the Washington Education Association, and pro-education legislators find troubling? 

The length of the school year is set by the Legislature – currently 180 days. The amount of funding given to school districts is based on this number, and teacher contracts are too.

Ramona Hattendorf of Washington State PTA wrote to legislators: “Cutting those four days means re-opening hundreds of contracts and re-negotiating terms in potentially hundreds of different ways... How is this not hugely disruptive to our children? To our educators? To our support staffs? How do you address the inequity generated by those schools wealthy enough to absorb the state cuts? [through local levies] Of those communities with foundations ready to raise the needed cash to keep schools open?”

The biggest issue is that redefining the school year as 176 days is actually redefining what the state considers as basic education. This is huge, because Washington’s constitution states that it is the paramount (first, most important!)duty to amply fund basic education for all students. By lowering the bar on the definition of basic education, the state is saying that kids only need 176 days, and the state will only pay for 176 days. 

Here is how Rep. Ross Hunter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which makes the budget, puts it:

“It’s easy for people to say “it’s just one day.” One day becomes two, or four, or ten.This will not be good for children. I guarantee that if we start a budget with a four day cut we will wind up with 6-10 by the time we are done. Going into the next biennium, it will be an “add” to put back the days, and it will be very, very hard to do this.

Of course, once we’ve made the decision once to cut “basic education” it’s easy to keep making it. Our ability to protect the long-term investment in our children and in our economic future as a state will diminish. This is a bad thing.

My fellow legislators need to hear from you. They need to know that people in their district, in many cases people they know personally, care passionately about preserving the constitutional prohibition against cutting “basic education.” This will make my work easier.”

Do you agree with PTA and Rep. Hunter that cutting school days to save money is setting a dangerous precedent? Once these days are cut, they may ever come back.  Do kids need to be in school to learn?

Let your Legislators know your thoughts. Northshore is served by Sen. Andy Hill, Rep. Roger Goodman and Rep.Larry Springer from D-45, and Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Rep. Derek Sanford and Rep. Luis Moscoso from D-1.  You can find their email addresses at https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx
or phone numbers at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rosters/MembersByDistrict.aspx.